From our Clue Crew to our set designers, Clock N Lock Escape Rooms in Kalamazoo employs a wide range of talented, creative individuals. All of our escape games are designed in house and – because of this – can only be enjoyed at our location in Kalamazoo, Michigan. If you’re looking for an exciting, challenging, and fun place to work that will allow you to stretch your imagination, we encourage you to visit our employment page.
My escape story began with a trip to Paris with my son, Harrison, over Easter holiday in April of 2015.
We were only going for three days to check out the France while, Doug, his dad was traveling in China for work. We’ve always enjoyed travel as a family and this was our first major Mother-Son adventure. Not wanting it to be a lame trip that he took with his mom, I googled for ‘Cool Things to do with Teenagers in Paris.’
My searches kept showing Hint Hunt Escape Rooms. I read the reviews and they said things similar to this: ‘The whole trip to Paris and this game was what the family raved about the most. Great for families with older teens.’
I read on in their website and the game for for 3-6 players. We had recently (at that time it was 2015) also seen an episode of the Big Bang Theory where the scientists played an escape room and the joke was that they were so smart they got out (aka Escaped) very shortly after the clock started. I was intrigued, so I emailed and asked about playing with 2 players, they told me it was harder and the minimum was three, but I could buy 3 tickets and just arrive with 2 and they would let us play. So I did that and off we flew to Paris, where I visited every comic book store (one store twice) and we tried our first escape.
They were surprised to have America Mom and her 15 year old show up for their last slot on a Tuesday night to escape.
It was amazing! We were brilliant, we solved problems, we were clueless and had to ask for hints, we scratched our head and felt light bulbs click in our heads when we saw the light and solutions we needed to get to the next puzzle. We didn’t beat the clock – but we had the best memories ever! I couldn’t believe that I paid money to get locked up in a room and it was so much fun.
During all of the little victories (and ‘what does that mean?’ moments) we had 100% connected together. We were a team. I am so happy that we did that and took a chance and booked a late night escape game during our Paris Trip. It changed my life forever.
Of the two owners, if Paula were Lock, then Doug would certainly be Clock. He helps to keep things moving along and on schedule. He keeps the boss lady happy and her crazy levels low. This is a hard job that he’s been successful at for over 25 years. In the new adventure with Clock N Lock Escape Rooms, Doug has been instrumental in assisting with room design concepts and layouts. Doug is also our in-house Cyber Security Expert. He is 100% the reason this business started and if you really want to know how that story goes…. ask Paula sometime. She talks a lot, and she’ll tell you. He prefers to be the silent and steady influence and since he’s an owner we let him do whatever he likes… silent and steady it is.
Harry first tried an escape room in Paris in 2015. It was him & his mom. (Lame, right? But it was fun.) Since then he has played numerous escapes throughout Michigan and can be spotted playing Dungeons & Dragons, and unless that is your thing… don’t ask him about D&D or you’ll be chatting about it for a while.
Randy is a dancer and he had got the moves when it comes to building a beautiful escape room for you to play in! In addition to the many affluent homes and businesses in West Michigan that he has helped to customize, we are excited to have him working to make our escape rooms some of the best in the Great Lakes area. Randy is a fan of games and even though he’s super to have in an escape room, he’s super duper to have as a partner sitting across from you playing Cribbage or Euchre.
Kevin is Pickle Rick. No doubt in our minds. Kevin is responsible for making the crazy ideas in Paula’s head become a reality (with help from Randy). If it plugs into something or doesn’t have to plug into something and it’s inside one of the rooms at Clock N Lock, then Kevin made it happen that way. Kevin is great to have in an escape room because if you invite Kevin, you also get his wife, Cat, to come and she is crazy good at playing escapes. Kevin is good at escapes, don’t get us wrong here… but what he’s crazy good at is making things do stuff that we don’t expect.
Andrew has been leading games for years as a Dungeon Master for his D&D Group. He’s been with Clock N Lock since day one, and now helps drive our success as a Lead GM… that’s Lead Game Master for the noobs. You might not always recognize him, as he’s the person most likely to be seen in costume on the clock. He plays games of many names and Andrew will be sure to guide your team to escape.
Bonus Additional Fun Fact: He’s also the Lead GM most often seen wearing sunglasses – it’s just because he’s cool like that and not from having a black eye or being hung over. (we checked LOL)
Andrew 2, is our other Andrew. He’s our Saturday Night Andrew – and he’s got the number to get you moving and having a great time while in your escape room. During his time off the clock, Andrew frequents EDM shows and financial institutions. We’re cool with that.
Honorary GM Charles Nelson Riley doesn’t work for Clock N Lock Escape Rooms. He’s probably most well known for his spot answering swanky TV game show questions on Matchgame. But he’s the kinda person that would fit right in and join our fun. Clock N Lock adores some CNR. We would hire him.
Connor is one of our Saturday Night GMs. He’s 100% an all-heart Michigander dude. Friendly, kind, and ready to smile, Connor is ready to show how he puts the U in Fun! He cooks up fun whether being a Game Master for your escape game, or watching sports with family or hunting with friends.
Hey internet, meet Ethan! He takes Paula’s designs for escape room puzzles and fun lobby games and builds them into reality. The Golden Baby Unicorn Cage and Plinko are just a few highlights of his woodworking collection of projects he’s built for us at Clock N Lock.
Rebecca is all about happiness, and she adds happiness to Clock N Lock Escape Rooms by painting awesome details each of our escape games helping each theme be great space to play and escape for an hour to a different place. She’s the artist that painted Paula’s puzzle into the desk inside Amelia’s Attic, the castle walls inside the Wizards Spellroom of Baby Unicorn Rescue, and that fabulous comic-style crashing wall damage from the UFO crash inside The UFO Diner.
Rob is our Game Master with an amazing side story. In addition to being a GM for Clock N Lock, he runs Paranormal Michigan with his wife. He knows a lot of scary things, but he’s not scary. If you suddenly wanted to get married during your escape – Rob knows how to do that too!
